Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/111120
Looks from Valentino���s Spring 2013 Ready-to-Wear and Haute Couture collections. ���Like we do, David believes in the necessity to renew oneself while preserving memory,��� says Piccioli. Valentino���s Milan flagship���some areas sleek (black and white checkerboard marble and curtains of glass tubes), some clubby (walnut panels, inlaid bronze chandeliers)���opened first, with Beverly Hills following soon after. Not surprisingly from two designers with a background in shoes and bags, accessories have become a core strength, too, with the new bag line, Rockstud, a hit��� something both Chiuri and Piccioli say they���re especially proud of. ���Fifteen years ago when we started at Valentino,��� says Piccioli, ���we wanted to prove that even a fashion company that was born as a couture house could create bags and shoes as if it was born as an accessories firm, and we succeeded!��� All this promise caught the eye of the Qatari royal family, who bought Valentino from Permira group in October of 2012 and has since increased funding for Valentino, especially its international expansion. Though Valentino started as a company to serve the needs of a particular European jet set, today we live in a borderless world. Chiuri and Piccioli���s thick, thick accents may say Italian, but Valentino speaks many more languages now. ���The more we travel and discover women everywhere,��� says Chiuri, ���the harder it is to find real differences linked to geographic locations. Women are multifaceted. The same woman may want to be fragile, sensual, romantic or masculine all at the same time.��� Adds Piccioli: ���The universe of women is difficult to define. This is why it is so fascinating.��� BH 76 BAL HARBOUR